Strip holding and guiding mechanism for sewing-machines.



A. B. WALES. STRIP HOLDING AND GUIDING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES..

APPLICATION FILED JUNE I6, I916.

Patented Dec. 19, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I/F/G/ 1 ,209,647. I Patented Dec. 19, 1916.

A. B. WALES.

STRIP HOLDING AND GUIDING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 16. 1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

ALFRED B. WALES, 0F WHITMAN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 LORENZ MUTHER,

0F NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

STRIP HOLDING AND GUIDING MECHANISM FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. is, rare.

Application filed June 1c, 1916. Serial No. 104,086.

Whitman, county of Plymouth, State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Strip Holding and Guiding Mechanisms for Sewing-Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the drawings accompanying the sanie and forming a part thereof.

My invention relates to improvements in strip holding and guiding mechanism for sewing machines.

The object of my invention is to produce a mechanism for sewing strips of material to sheet material in such manner that the strip of material will stand at an angle to the sheet material afterthe sewing operation has been accomplished.

Heretofore, in sewing strips of material to sheet material both materials have been held in positions substantially parallel to each other. When held in such position it was difficult to sew a strip of material to the curved edges of sheet material for the reason that the strip of material would pucker and cause unevenness in the row of stitching for securing it to the sheet material. In the use of my improved mechanism, the difliculty of puckering and unevenness in stitching is overcome by holding the strip of material at approximately a right angle to the sheet material while the sewing or stitching operation is taking place.' To facilitate the sewing operation, the device for holding and guiding the strip of material may, if preferred, be so formed as to slightly bend the edge of the strip of material contiguous tothe sheet material so that the sewing needle will more easily pass through it.

When my improved mechanism is used to stitch binding tape or strips to sheet material it is sometimes desirable to coat one side of the tape or strip with cement before stitching it to the sheet material. For this purpose I provide means for coating or cementing one or both sides of the tape or strip of material, said means being so positioned that the cement will be partially dried before the strip of material passes through the guiding and holding device to be stitched.

In the drawings accompanying this specification and forming a part thereof Figure l is a side elevation of a sewing machine with my improved mechanism attached, together with a cement coating device; Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the front end of the worksupport of a sewing machine showing the needle, a section of the needle-bar and a section of the resser-foot, together with my holding and guiding device; Fig. 3

is a longitudinal sectional elevation taken through line 3-3 Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a sectional plan view of the strip guide and end of work-support of a sewing machine taken on line 4.4, Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic illustration of the position of the strip before it is stitched to the sheet material; Fig.

6 is a diagrammatic illustration of the strip after it has been stitched to the sheet material; and Fig. 7 shows a section of sheet material having a concave curved portion with the strip of material stitched thereto to illustrate some of the work of a sewing machine having my mechanism attached.

In the drawings illustrating my invention, 1 represents the frame of a sewing machine of the usual type such as is used for stitching superimposed layers of material, and which is provided with a cylindrical work-support 2 and an upper frame 3 carrying a reciprocating needle-bar and a presserfoot which cooperates with the feeding device to feed the material. The needle-bar, feeding-foot and their operating mechanisms are of the usual types, such as is shown in Singer and other types of sewing machines, so that these features need not be described.

One of the uses of my improved device is for sewing tape or binding strips of material to the edges of closed boot or shoe Vamps, and other boot, shoe, slipper and pump parts. In such cases it is desirable to raise the machine from the bench, and it is usual for manufacturers to provide a base 4 serving to raise the machine from the table a sufficient distance to permit closed Vamps to be swung around the work-support 2.

In the illustration, Fig. 2, of the end of resser-foot 6 of a sewing machine.

v is to be attached and so the strip will stand approximately perpendicular to the face of the sheet material. In practice, I prefer to provide a very slight curved portion to the lower edge of the strip-holding guide 5. This curved portion occurs at the point 8 shown in Fig. 2.

In practice, the strip-holding and guiding device 5 is preferably inclined slightly from the perpendicular and is preferably made triangular and quite narrow at the point 8 and wider at the top so as the better to hold the strip of material in an approximately perpendicular position. In Fig. 4 the holding and guiding device 5 has its position better defined with relation to the needle. The needle 9 passes down through the hole 10, which hole is shown in Fig. 4, and, as illustrated in said figure, it shows that the lower slightly curved portion of' the strip as fed along passes by a point where the needle will intercept it. The object of so placing the guide so that the edge only of the strip will pass by the path of the needle is to have the row of stitching securing the strip to the sheet material as near the edge of the strip as possible. This is particularly desired where the strip attaching device is used to secure a binding tape or strip to the edge of a boot or shoe part for the purpose of forming a binding around the edge of the boot or shoe part, it being desirable to have as little as possible of the binding show on the outside of the boot or shoe part. By thus locating the stitching close to the edge of the sheet material and close to theedge of the binding tape or strip, the said binding tape or strip when folded around the edge leaves the least possible amount of said binding strip visible.

There is shown in Fig. 2 a section of sheet material 15, a section of tape or strip of material 16, and a guide-pin 17 for guiding the edge of the sheet material 15; the guidepin 17 being necessary to the proper location of the edge of the strip of material upon the edge of the sheet material.

In the drawing, Fig. 5 illustrates the position of the tape or strip just prior to the operation of stitching it to the sheet material, the strip being illustrated by the numeral 11 and the sheet material by the numeral 12.

Fig. 6 shows the strip and sheet material after they have been stitched together and shows that the extreme edge of the strip is bent to stand substantially pa rallel to the surface of the sheet material while the body of thestrip stands approximately perpendicular to the sheet material, a row of stitching being close to the edge of both materials so that the strip 11 when folded around the edge of the sheet material 12 leaves a very small portion of the strip exposed.

Fig. 7 illustrates a piece of sheet material 13 having a concave curved portion 14 and shows how easily the strip of material may be sewed tothe concave edge without puckering or unevenness if the body of the strip is held approximately perpendicular to the sheet material.

I do not desire to limit myself to the exact form of theguide and strip-holding device, as illustrated herein, or its exact location with reference to the needle, the cylinder-arm and the presser-foot, for the reason that any form of guide which would hold and deliver the strip of material approximately at right angles to the sheet material to which it-was to beattached while the stitching operation was being performed, would come within the purview of my invention.

What I'claim is 1. In a sewing machine, means for feeding sheet material; means for guiding the edge of sheet'material; and means forstitching, combined with a strip guide for positioning and guiding a strip of material so that a small portion of one of the edges of said strip of material will be held substantially parallel to the sheet material and near the edge thereof while being stitched, and the greater portion of the strip of material held at an angle to the plane of the sheet material.

2. In a sewing machine comprising means for feeding sheet material therethrough; stitching means, combined with a guide for guiding a strip of material to said stitching means, said guide being provided with a slot, the greater portion of which is at an angle to the plane of the sheet material, and the lower portion of said slot being curved outwardly so as to hold a small portion near the edge of the strip of material substantially parallel to the sheet material while the two are being stitched together.

3. A sewing machine comprising means for feeding a sheet of material therethrough; a guide for holding and guiding a strip of material, said guide having a slot through which said strip travels, said slot being at an angle to the plane of the sheet material; means for guiding the sheet material; and means for stitching said strip to said sheet material while the greater portion of the strip of material is held at an angle with relation to the sheet material.

4. A sewing machine comprising means for feeding a sheet of material therethrough; stitching means combined with a guide for guiding a strip of material to said stitching means, said guide being pro-' vided with a slot the greater portion of which is at an angle to the plane of the sheet material, a small portion of the lower edge of said slot being curved outwardly and positioned so as to la contiguous to the edge of the sheet material while the stitching operation is taking place.

ALFRED B. WALES.

1 Witnesses:

R. P. ELLIOTT, H. M. KELSO. 

